DAYTON, Ohio — Don't tell Andrew Gilmore that print and high-tech can't be married. As president of the Book Factory, Gilmore presided over the wedding ceremony.
Gilmore, 54, is a former B-52 navigator, a retired colonel once in charge of the Air Force's e-business and paperless efforts. Today, he's in charge of a manufacturing operation that designs, prints, binds and distributes custom books, lab notebooks and log books, journals and more.
Born of an idea struck in the basement of his home, Gilmore started out with two employees and one press in 2003.
Today, he has 32 employees, three digital presses, offices in Dayton and London and 20,000 square feet of space.
A good chunk of his business lies in hardbound lab books used by pharmacists, scientists and inventors to track and document research and experiments. Handwritten notes in such books are used to defend intellectual property worth billions, Gilmore said.
"You'll have one company that says, 'We invented it on this day,' and another company that says, 'We invented it on this day,'" Gilmore said, pointing to one of his archival-quality lab books. "Here's your evidence."
"The book could be worth a billion dollars," he added with a smile.
The written notes are "far superior" to electronic records that can be lost or disturbed, he contends.
Thirty percent of his sales today come from Europe, but he has no plans to leave Dayton. Labor and overhead costs here remain competitive. Further, he believes manufacturing is in the "DNA" of area residents.
An offshoot of the Book Factory has been Qoop Inc., a gathering spot on the Web for anyone looking for art and graphics. Photos and art from Facebook, Flickr, Time Life and elsewhere can be processed — through business arrangements — through Qoop. The results can be posters, hardbound books, mugs, wrapping paper — nearly anything adorned with distinctive photos and art.
Capital for Qoop and the Book Factory itself didn't come from Ohio investors or government, Gilmore notes.
"We raised money from the Silicon Valley," Gilmore said. "That's an interesting twist to this. Silicon Valley invested in the Miami Valley."
Thomas Gnau writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: tgnau(at)DaytonDailyNews.com.